The Black Hole of AuschwitzThe Black Hole of Auschwitz brings together Levi's writings on the Holocaust and his experiences of the concentration camp, as well as those on his own accidental status as a writer and his chosen profession of chemist. In this book Levi rails intelligently and eloquently against what he saw as the ebb of compassion and interest in the Holocaust, and the yearly assault on the veracity and moral weight of the testimonies of its survivors. For Levi, to keep writing and, through writing, to understand why the Holocaust could happen, was nothing less than a safeguard against the loss of a collective memory of the atrocities perpetrated against the Jewish people. This moving book not only reveals the care and conviction with which he wrote about the Holocaust, but also shows the range of Levi's interests and the skill, thoughtfulness and sensitivity he brought to all his subjects. The consistency and moral force of Levi's reflections and the clarity and intimacy of his style will make this book appeal to a wide readership, including those who have read and been moved by his masterpiece If This is a Man. |
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already amino acids amongst ancient animals asymmetry Auschwitz bear witness believe Birkenau century certainly chemist chirality civilization concentration camps crime culture death deported enemies Europe European everything ex-deportee exist experience extermination camps fact Fascism Faurisson feel film gas chambers German ghetto guilty hand happened Hebrew Hitler Holocaust Höss human Italian Italy Jean Améry Jewish Jews Judaism Kappler killed Kristallnacht La Stampa language least living massacre memory million molecule moral Nazi Nazi Germany Nazism never nonetheless ourselves partisans perhaps pipe Poland political precise Primo Levi prisoners problem race racial intolerance Ravensbrück reader reason regime resistance Robert Faurisson seems sense silence Soviet speak Stampa story survive survivors swastika tell things thousand tion torture translated truth Turin understand victims WAYNE'S G3 women words writing Yiddish young